review: horseshoes, eric's trip, nomeansno

gig review: McINNES ROOM, DALHOUSIE U., APRIL 23
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HORSESHOES & HANDGRENADES
it was a more technically competent performance by
the band than last time (at the ckdu benefit show),
but not as intense. peter seemed bemused by the
crowd and the band seemed to be feeling their way
through the set. it didn't have the over-the-top
quality of that last set. lucas pearse was on stage,
playing records in the background, but it wasn't as
fun as last time when they played the six million
dollar man record. i couldn't tell what he was
playing this time. their new song sounds really
cool, and their old songs sound much better.
a very promising performance.
ERIC'S TRIP
eric's trip rule live. they are *really* hot. they
took into account their all-ages audience and played
a sort of "greatest hits" set. they ripped through
rockers like "need", "listen", "anytime you want",
and "smother". they made mention of their derivative
seven-inch and played a song from it, but it wasn't
on sale at the gig. it wasn't a challenging set
or anything, just the trippers giving a 40-minute
shot of what they do best. i really wish they had
been headlining -- they could have kept it going
much longer, the crowd was with them. anyways, great
set nonetheless.
NOMEANSNO
some of their songs are brilliant, some of them suck,
and if they could tell the difference they wouldn't
be so delightfully odd. i have a personal preference
here -- i find that i like them better the more their
songs sound like punk. although i must admit, their
17-minute version of "kill everyone now" was a
definite treat. they played well over an hour,
finishing off with their aforementioned "opus", and
then came back on for three more songs. much of the
crowd dispersed at that point, but many of them came
back when the remnant succeeded in cheering them back
on. and when they came back on, they came back on as
THE HANSON BROTHERS
yes sir, we got treated to a five-song set by the
nomeansno alter egos. for those not familiar with the
split personality of this band, they have worked their
way across the country from west to east as nomeansno,
and are using halifax as their flipping-over point and
will tour east to west as the hanson brothers. the
hansons thing is a sort of "hockey schtick", if you'll
forgive the expression, they do a bunch of songs about
hockey and masturbation all dressed in hockey jerseys
(one in a goalie mask), and all their songs sound like
the ramones. a lot of fun.
i heard that the gig even turned a profit!
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James R. Covey I've seen "Fever" and I've seen "Rain".
<jrcovey\!/ac.dal.ca> I've seen "Justify My Love" that I thought would never end
Department of English I've seen "Live To Tell" when I could not find a friend
Dalhousie University But I always thought I'd see Madonna again.
Halifax, NS B3H 3H5 - Rob Sheffield